Patterico's Pontifications

1/19/2013

Full Body Scanners to Be Taken Out of Airports

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 10:11 am



No more Rapescans, as I assume the Rapiscan devices are called by many.

The Transportation Security Administration is removing controversial full-body scanners made by a Torrance manufacturer, winning praise from privacy advocates and passenger-rights groups that raised questions about the health effects of the devices.

Rapiscan, a unit of OSI Systems Inc., manufactured about 200 full-body scanners used by the TSA to screen passengers for hidden weapons at airports across the country. The machines generated a storm of protest because the devices use low levels of radiation to create what resembles a nude image of screened passengers.

The machines, one of two types of scanners used by the TSA for passenger screening, will be pulled from all airports by this summer. The TSA had already begun to remove the Rapiscan scanners from Los Angeles International Airport in October to replace them with faster screening machines.

I won’t miss ’em.

9 Responses to “Full Body Scanners to Be Taken Out of Airports”

  1. piggy piggy TSA workers kept licking the screens is what I heard

    happyfeet (ce327d)

  2. So the ones where you can see an outline of yourself on a monitor is staying? I can’t keep track. I still remember the leering of one TSA guy when he herded us all away from the metal detector into the naked scanner line. SICK.

    I was subjected to a TSA molestation after going through that one and some gold threads in my sweater appearing as, er, bombs or something. “Oh we know it’s your sweater,” she said gleefully as she snapped on her latex gloves.

    Patricia (be0117)

  3. Great, but what comes NEXT? You don’t seriously think the TSA is suddenly going to start behaving reasonably and rationally?

    WarEagle82 (97b777)

  4. I’m sure all that taxpayer money was not wasted–because there’s probably a huge salvage market for used full body scanners out there. But at least somebody’s cronies/contributors got rich on the original government contract. That’s all that really matters in politics.

    elissa (57ebdf)

  5. to replace them with faster screening machines.

    Ummm, removing to do THIS, perhaps?

    piggy piggy TSA workers kept licking the screens is what I heard

    We’ll know in about 15 years when the epidemic of tongue cancer produces a class-action suit against the TSA, I suppose… :^D

    Smock Puppet, 10th Dan Snark Master and Compulsive Stick Figure Masturbater (98ae1f)

  6. *sigh* Guess it’s back to having your ‘luggage’ groped by someone with a shiny badge and no medical license.

    Icy (ef77ad)

  7. A quick search shows that they cost between $100-200K each. No mention of whether that includes installation…my bet is NO.

    The NY Pravda claims only 94 of them were installed. I’m not sure I believe that but using their numbers that’s still $20M pissed away.

    probably about what we spend on MOOchele’s wardrobe.

    Scott Merker (981b21)

  8. Well the problem as with the TSA template, it assumes that everyone is just as likely to be a terrorist, which time constraints, indicate one is less likely to find the true ones

    narciso (3fec35)

  9. I assume all airplanes will crash.
    How do they solve that problem?

    Then we can talk about the 787.

    askeptic (2bb434)


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